Reply to: State of the Market

[jamesbrown]

As bad as things are now, they could get even worse, we could get a hung parliament and no interest rate cuts this year either..

Well, yes, or nuclear war. However, a hung parliament is exceptionally unlikely and no interest rate cuts is relatively unlikely, but obviously not impossible.

[Fraidycat]

As bad as things are now, they could get even worse, we could get a hung parliament and no interest rate cuts this year either..

[dsc]

Didn't think it could get any lower but seems that the market has cooled even more since the election announcement.

Kind of makes sense, no one knows what the new gov will announce and it's just around the corner, plus it's summer time anyway, so I wouldn't expect a massive uptick till September maybe.

[avonleigh]

Looking at Jobserve just now and number of jobs is below 20,000. Think it's been a while since it went that low?

Didn't think it could get any lower but seems that the market has cooled even more since the election announcement.

[Smoggy]

Is there a real need to physically keep an eye on call centre staff any more?

Don't most call centre systems have real time monitoring of queues, time to taken to answer a call, average call length etc as well as facility to listen in on calls or join in (the aptly named 'barge in' feature)?

Plus all calls may be recorded for training and quality purposes blah blah blah.

True, but occasionally there was a legitimate reason to not be ready for a call such as writing notes, sending a fax (remember them?) processing more complicated cases etc. So being able to see people weren't just fancying around was useful.

[edison]

Looking at Jobserve just now and number of jobs is below 20,000. Think it's been a while since it went that low?

[edison]

I worked in Aviva (then Norwich Union) call centres back in the day and they were all open plan. Doubt they've changed much since then. The managers like to keep a close eye on you.

Is there a real need to physically keep an eye on call centre staff any more?

Don't most call centre systems have real time monitoring of queues, time to taken to answer a call, average call length etc as well as facility to listen in on calls or join in (the aptly named 'barge in' feature)?

Plus all calls may be recorded for training and quality purposes blah blah blah.

[cojak]

Indeed and probably not, but school dining hall layouts aren't much better even with the small partitions

That is a very familiar layout! (Although I suspect that management will get four seats on those desks after 6 months.)

[gables]

The last time I had one of those cubicles was 1992. Do any organisations still have them? Call centres maybe?

Indeed and probably not, but school dining hall layouts aren't much better even with the small partitions

[Smoggy]

I worked in Aviva (then Norwich Union) call centres back in the day and they were all open plan. Doubt they've changed much since then. The managers like to keep a close eye on you.

[edison]

The last time I had one of those cubicles was 1992. Do any organisations still have them? Call centres maybe?

[quackhandle]

Quick glance I can see two playstations and a Dreamcast in that photo - tons of productivity.

qh

[Bluenose]

I'm living in Greece doing a WFH contract for a Dutch bank. Best time of my life with highest productivity and a team of people I consider great friends. The team was given a choice of coming to the office twice a month or meeting for beers as frequently. They opted for twice a month in the office (they have beers on one of those days from 4:00) but I'm exempt. I've gone 3 times, however, and been one of three people from my team. They end up leaving sometime between noon and 3:00 and I'm left in an empty room. The one guy (a real character) lives across the street and refuses to come to the office. It was really nice of him, however, to come for about an hour just to meet me.

In poor times, people used to do a gig in Switzerland, these days you don't need to go to Switzerland when the market is tulip, you can go whether you want in the EU (that has teleworker visa) and work from there.

[cojak]

As a developer i find its more about concentration. Personally i never found busy open plan offices very conducive to concentrating for long periods of time.

Do BAs/PMs/Architects have to focus and concentrate as hard as developers do? I dont think so.

In solitude at home i can easily do the amount of work that took 30 hours in the office but in 15 hours at home. Then its entirely up to me what i want to do with the other 15 hours. Do I push my self harder or pace myself. It normally depends on how much the client is paying..

I found that as a BA, ear-wigging on conversations were more productive than structured interviews in the first few weeks of a contract, it was part of my toolbox.

Being a nosy git is a pre-requisite as a BA, WFH makes that part of the job much harder.

[hungry_hog]

Met an agent today (not looking but good to have the contacts), says FS is picking up slightly as Banks have been a bit cautious on project spending despite some good performance.
Expecting an uplift post election / summer.

In my current team (30) 3 arrived externally since Christmas (including me) so there is a bit of movement, but if you don't tick 90% of boxes you are dead in the water.

I always see Lloyds/insurance roles which always want Lloyds/insurance experience. Which is very niche.

The Bank which rhymes with "Bitty" is always hiring, draw your own conclusions from that!